Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has admitted that Liverpool were 'on a different level' as the Reds thumped his side 4-0 last night.
Fernando Torres opened the scoring for Liverpool and Glen Johnson scored an acrobatic volley to double the advantage just before half-time. Dirk Kuyt added a third with 12 minutes remaining and substitute David Ngog completed the rout in injury time.
'I hold my hands up, we were beaten by a better team and better players,' said an honest Pulis.
'Liverpool created more chances against us here last season, but just did not take them. This time they were excellent.
'They do not only have Torres and Gerrard, who are world class - they have great players right through their team, and they showed that quality against us.'
Liverpool needed a good performance after an opening day defeat at the hands of Tottenham and manager Rafa Benitez certainly saw a better display.
'I feel really pleased because we have a clean sheet,' he said.
'We knew it was important to score the early goal and then change the game so we continue with the same game plan and the second goal was really important because they needed to go forward.'
But Benitez still feels that his team are not quite up to scratch: 'We have plenty of room for improvement though. Some players are still short of full fitness.'
Liverpool's next game is at home against Aston Villa on Monday whereas Stoke travel to newly promoted Birmingham on Saturday.
Fernando Torres opened the scoring for Liverpool and Glen Johnson scored an acrobatic volley to double the advantage just before half-time. Dirk Kuyt added a third with 12 minutes remaining and substitute David Ngog completed the rout in injury time.
'I hold my hands up, we were beaten by a better team and better players,' said an honest Pulis.
'Liverpool created more chances against us here last season, but just did not take them. This time they were excellent.
'They do not only have Torres and Gerrard, who are world class - they have great players right through their team, and they showed that quality against us.'
Liverpool needed a good performance after an opening day defeat at the hands of Tottenham and manager Rafa Benitez certainly saw a better display.
'I feel really pleased because we have a clean sheet,' he said.
'We knew it was important to score the early goal and then change the game so we continue with the same game plan and the second goal was really important because they needed to go forward.'
But Benitez still feels that his team are not quite up to scratch: 'We have plenty of room for improvement though. Some players are still short of full fitness.'
Liverpool's next game is at home against Aston Villa on Monday whereas Stoke travel to newly promoted Birmingham on Saturday.
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